Columbia, Mo. – This afternoon the Columbia College baseball team was back in action when they played host to the Lyon (Ark.) College Scots in an AMC doubleheader. The Cougars spilt the doubleheader with the Scots taking the first game by a final score of 6-5 and then dropping the second game by a final score of 11-7 to improve to 17-6 on the season and 5-4 in conference play.
In the first game against the Scots, Columbia College put together 10 hits in the 6-5 win. Lyon was the first to get on the board in this one as they brought a run around to score in the top of the first inning to take an early 1-0 lead. The Cougars answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the second following a solo homerun from Tim Fox but a two run inning from the Scots in the top of the third gave them a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom half of the inning. Columbia College answered with a two run rally in the bottom of the third to tie the game at three, but a run from the Scots in the top of the fourth and one more in the top of the seventh gave the Scots a 5-3 lead heading into the final half inning of the game. The Cougars were able to get two runners on in the bottom of the seventh and then a three run walk-off homerun from Ethan Howser propelled Columbia to their 17th win of the season.
J.W. McGraw (3-0) got the start in this one as allowed just six hits and three earned runs in 3.0 innings on the mound. Derek Sallee (1-2) and Craig Smith (2-0) came in to relieve McGraw as the two combined for four strikeouts while allowing one run in 4.0 innings on the mound. Offensively, Ethan Howser led the way for the Cougars as he went 2-4 with four RBI's including a three run homerun. To go along with Howser, Tim Fox went 1-3 with a solo homerun, and Blade McKee went 3-4 with three runs scored to round out the top performers for Columbia.
In the second game against the Scots, the Cougars put together 15 hits in the 11-7 loss. The Cougars got off to a quick start in this one as they scored two runs in the first, three runs in the third, and a run in the fourth to take a 6-0 lead into the fifth. Lyon had a tough time getting anything going through the first few innings of the game but were able to rally for three runs in the top of the sixth to cut Columbia's lead in half. The Cougars answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the sixth to retake a four run lead but then a five run innings in the eighth and a three run inning in the ninth propelled the Scots to victory.
Chris Wall (1-0) was on the mound for this one as he allowed just three hits and no earned runs while striking out four batters in 5.0 innings of work. Jacob Ford (0-0), Lane Threlkeld (0-0), Jeremy Rettig (3-1), Craig Smith (2-1), and Tanner Allen (0-0) came into relieve Wall as the five combined to allow seven hits and 11 earned runs in the final four innings of the game. Offensively, Justin Randle went 4-5 with three RBI's and Joshua Miller went 3-3 with a run scored to lead the way for Columbia.
The Cougars are back in action tomorrow, March 19th when they play host to the Scots for the final game of the three game series. The game is set to start at noon at Atkins Park.
